Crown Point Dominates Fort Wayne Snider 76-47, Advances to 4A North Semistate Final

Mason Darrell opened the fourth quarter with a corner three, pushed his total to a game-high 22 points, and never gave Fort Wayne Snider a reason to believe the gap would close. Crown Point's 76-47 dismantling of the Panthers at Elkhart's North Side Gym on Saturday punched the Bulldogs' ticket to the Class 4A North semistate championship game, where they will meet Northridge later that same evening.

The margin was not always this comfortable. Both teams traded turnovers on the opening possessions, and after Crown Point jumped ahead 13-5, Snider answered with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to two. From that point forward, though, the Bulldogs steadily reasserted control. Crown Point led 18-13 with 2:30 left in the first quarter before pulling away through the middle periods. A cross-court pass by Shaw, who is listed on the PrepHoops roster as Dikembe Shaw, created an open layup that stretched the lead to 20 points. By the end of the third quarter, the scoreboard read Crown Point 62, Fort Wayne Snider 43.

Darrell, a Bellarmine commit, was the story of the fourth. His corner three to open the period gave Crown Point its first points of the quarter and marked his 22nd of the game. With the outcome no longer in doubt, Crown Point shifted into a four-corners offense to drain the clock, and it worked: the Bulldogs led 68-45 with 4:12 remaining before finishing at 76-47.

The win extended Crown Point's winning streak to 10 consecutive games. The Bulldogs' only loss this season came January 31 against 21st Century Charter. Sporting News listed Crown Point's record at 24-1 after the game; MaxPreps recorded it as 23-1. The discrepancy should be resolved against the official IHSAA box score.

Crown Point arrived in Elkhart having already won three straight IHSAA Regional Championships, most recently defeating Chesterton 54-35 on March 15. The Bulldogs averaged 73.88 points per game this season while allowing 50.67, according to PrepHoops, a combination that made a 29-point margin over a Snider team that averaged 62.89 points per game look entirely plausible.

Northridge, which beat Homestead 46-39 in the earlier semifinal, enters the title game at 26-1. The Class 4A North semistate championship tipped off at 8 p.m. at North Side Gym, with a trip to the state finals on the line.